Wiring a sabre grip the Ulahn way.
Sept 5, 2017 22:22:48 GMT
Post by Uhlan on Sept 5, 2017 22:22:48 GMT
Member likehotbutter asked me about wiring a sabre grip.
As maybe there are some more people wanting to do this kind of job, I decided to do a short post on the matter.
So here goes.
Except for the Napoleonic sabres, mostly the Officers sabres had a wired grip.
In order to get the right type of wire pattern I advise you to look at pictures via Google Images. You'll see many fancy types, but mostly the wiring was quite simple.
One or two twisted strands of a certain thickness, one going up and one going down, just one twisted strand, or one twisted strand bordered with one strand on either side, you can make it as fancy as you like.
Here we will start with making a single twisted strand with a piece of 0.8 mm brass wire. This is the most simple wire and most grips have just this type.
Be aware though that grips were wired before the sabre or sword was banged together. If you need to wire a grip in situ, you will need thinner wire because you have to get the wire under the pommel cap for a few turns. That is why it is better to use 0.4 or 0.6 mm there, whether gilded or silver or plain is up to you.
If you have to work in situ it is also advisable to determine whether the channels for the wire are deep enough.
Step 1.
The M1829 Artillery grip on the left has channels too shallow to accommodate wiring in situ. You'll never get the wire under the pommel cap. You'll have to take the sabre apart before you can do anything with this one. My advise is to just let it be.
The old model M1822 grip in the middle has nice and deep channels so wiring in situ is no problem even with 0.8 mm wire. The 1882 M1822 grip to the right has shallower channels but it still could be possible to wire this one. Tricky it will be though. Better use 0.4 mm for this one.
Step 2.
Turning a strand.
After the turning or twisting is done you need to have 150 cm wire.
The old broken wire on the M1829 grip was 130 cm long + the bits that went inside the grip. Because we do not want to come 1 cm short after all our work, Oh yes. This has happened!, we must have 150 cm to play with. Because the twisting will also cost you my advise is to just cut of 400 cm, fold it double and stick the two ends in the vice, after feeding said two lose ends through my favourite, the nozzle of a silicone container or how you folks call it. The silicone stuff one uses to close the gaps between the hot tub and the tiled wall. Those containers are sold with this plastic nozzle. What works just as well is a piece of small diameter copper pipe or the lower half of a ballpoint pen.
You need something to steer the process and any tube will do actually. In the loop you stick a pencil. See the picture.
Now pull the lot fairly tight with you left hand holding the tube and with your right hand finger start spinning the pencil. Like a propeller.
When you get the hang of it you can go really fast. Keep the wire tight and after a while you will feel the wire starting to pull at your left hand. Give but still keep the wire tight. And so on until you see you have this:
A good o.8 mm wire will have about 9 to 11 turns per cm. Thinner wire will have more turns.
Anything less than 9 turns per cm is called a lazy wire and most people in the business will know the sabre was worked on. By an amateur.
This gilded 0.4 mm needs some more turns. It is not compact enough.
This whole process will take 10 minutes at best. Mostly less but that depends on the speed with which your right hand finger was spinning the pencil.
You could do this also with a drill at lowest speed. It is somewhat faster but much easier to go wrong too. Less control. For a good quality wire I much prefer to do it the old fashioned way. Much more fun.
When you're satisfied you got the 9 to 11 turns per cm, cut the ends lose.
Be careful to soften the ends a bit with sandpaper or a small file. This will make insertion go smooth. Watch out you do not kink the wire. When that happens you will be in trouble.
Step 3.
So. The channels are deep enough. How are we to secure the wire to the grip?
In the following pictures you can see how the wire was secured in the old days.
In the top and the bottom of the grip holes were drilled and the wire secured with a piece of wood. Note that back then the wire was pulled through those holes so that about 1 to 2 cm was hanging free in the tang channel. When the grip was shoved on the tang before peening, the extra wire in the tang channel got stuck between the tang and the inside of the grip as extra security. We will have to use wooden tooth picks as sole security and some super glue. Tooth picks have just the right diameter.
You will have to look carefully at your grip and find the old wooden peg at the bottom end. Drill it out with a drill bit of a diameter smaller than the tooth pick.
Better use slow speed and if possible a Dremel for this job. You should open up the old hole, not drill a new one, at least not at the bottom end of the grip.
MAKE A NOTE OF HOW DEEP THIS HOLE IS.
At the top end we will have to drill a new hole just under the pommel cap, so this hole is covered by said cap. This is tricky but doable. Be careful not to touch the cap. Press the drill bit down into the channel so it gets deeper were it goes under the cap and than drill the hole. You do not have to drill deep. Just so that you can stick the wire in for 1 cm max and super glue it in place. The new wire will cover the slightly deeper channel and if done well things will look natural. To top it off you could put a drop of black paint in there, preferably mat or satin if you must.
Be sure you clean the wire and blow some fine dust on the wet paint to make the spot look old.
Step 4.
So. We have tooth picks, the holes are drilled and we got the wire. Lets go!
Start at the top. Put the wire in the new hole. Break most of the point of a tooth pick, get some super glue on it and carefully push it in. Maybe do a dry run first so you know the pick will go in before you do the super glue bit. If everything works let it rest for a bit. Go do the dishes.
After the setting of the glue we will have to get one end under the pommel cap.
To make this easier you will have to push the working end into a channel as close to the cap as possible. This way the end will form itself round a bit and so will slide more easy under the cap. I hope I made this clear. It needs some fiddling to get to the other side, but once the wire is gone all the way to the other side pull it gently through. Do not force it and do not pull it tight just yet. First you will have to do the other turns under the cap. Once you are free of the cap you can start pulling the wire as tight as you can and then work your way down the grip to the hole at the bottom. In step 3 you have marked how deep the hole is, so now cut the wire at the desired length, insert it in the hole, break off the point of a toothpick, get some glue in there and shove the new peg home. Done.
You will find that you need three hands for this last bit because you will have to keep the wire tight on the grip, besides doing all the other stuff. Maybe a dry run is called for here too.
I think this explanation will cover most of the work. If I forgot something or something is not clear, do not hesitate to say so.
One other thing:
If you want to give the wire an old like look, just clean it with some acetone and with a Q tip put some ammonia on it. Keep this up for some time, just keeping the new wire wet a bit, let it dry again, etc and in a couple of days it will turn dark.
When it is dark you'll have to wipe the top of the wire with a soft cloth, The deeper
parts will keep the patina. More realistic is to do the wiping with a gloved hand so the patina will stay on in the places you will not have touched.
Antique as can be.
Cheers.
As maybe there are some more people wanting to do this kind of job, I decided to do a short post on the matter.
So here goes.
Except for the Napoleonic sabres, mostly the Officers sabres had a wired grip.
In order to get the right type of wire pattern I advise you to look at pictures via Google Images. You'll see many fancy types, but mostly the wiring was quite simple.
One or two twisted strands of a certain thickness, one going up and one going down, just one twisted strand, or one twisted strand bordered with one strand on either side, you can make it as fancy as you like.
Here we will start with making a single twisted strand with a piece of 0.8 mm brass wire. This is the most simple wire and most grips have just this type.
Be aware though that grips were wired before the sabre or sword was banged together. If you need to wire a grip in situ, you will need thinner wire because you have to get the wire under the pommel cap for a few turns. That is why it is better to use 0.4 or 0.6 mm there, whether gilded or silver or plain is up to you.
If you have to work in situ it is also advisable to determine whether the channels for the wire are deep enough.
Step 1.
The M1829 Artillery grip on the left has channels too shallow to accommodate wiring in situ. You'll never get the wire under the pommel cap. You'll have to take the sabre apart before you can do anything with this one. My advise is to just let it be.
The old model M1822 grip in the middle has nice and deep channels so wiring in situ is no problem even with 0.8 mm wire. The 1882 M1822 grip to the right has shallower channels but it still could be possible to wire this one. Tricky it will be though. Better use 0.4 mm for this one.
Step 2.
Turning a strand.
After the turning or twisting is done you need to have 150 cm wire.
The old broken wire on the M1829 grip was 130 cm long + the bits that went inside the grip. Because we do not want to come 1 cm short after all our work, Oh yes. This has happened!, we must have 150 cm to play with. Because the twisting will also cost you my advise is to just cut of 400 cm, fold it double and stick the two ends in the vice, after feeding said two lose ends through my favourite, the nozzle of a silicone container or how you folks call it. The silicone stuff one uses to close the gaps between the hot tub and the tiled wall. Those containers are sold with this plastic nozzle. What works just as well is a piece of small diameter copper pipe or the lower half of a ballpoint pen.
You need something to steer the process and any tube will do actually. In the loop you stick a pencil. See the picture.
Now pull the lot fairly tight with you left hand holding the tube and with your right hand finger start spinning the pencil. Like a propeller.
When you get the hang of it you can go really fast. Keep the wire tight and after a while you will feel the wire starting to pull at your left hand. Give but still keep the wire tight. And so on until you see you have this:
A good o.8 mm wire will have about 9 to 11 turns per cm. Thinner wire will have more turns.
Anything less than 9 turns per cm is called a lazy wire and most people in the business will know the sabre was worked on. By an amateur.
This gilded 0.4 mm needs some more turns. It is not compact enough.
This whole process will take 10 minutes at best. Mostly less but that depends on the speed with which your right hand finger was spinning the pencil.
You could do this also with a drill at lowest speed. It is somewhat faster but much easier to go wrong too. Less control. For a good quality wire I much prefer to do it the old fashioned way. Much more fun.
When you're satisfied you got the 9 to 11 turns per cm, cut the ends lose.
Be careful to soften the ends a bit with sandpaper or a small file. This will make insertion go smooth. Watch out you do not kink the wire. When that happens you will be in trouble.
Step 3.
So. The channels are deep enough. How are we to secure the wire to the grip?
In the following pictures you can see how the wire was secured in the old days.
In the top and the bottom of the grip holes were drilled and the wire secured with a piece of wood. Note that back then the wire was pulled through those holes so that about 1 to 2 cm was hanging free in the tang channel. When the grip was shoved on the tang before peening, the extra wire in the tang channel got stuck between the tang and the inside of the grip as extra security. We will have to use wooden tooth picks as sole security and some super glue. Tooth picks have just the right diameter.
You will have to look carefully at your grip and find the old wooden peg at the bottom end. Drill it out with a drill bit of a diameter smaller than the tooth pick.
Better use slow speed and if possible a Dremel for this job. You should open up the old hole, not drill a new one, at least not at the bottom end of the grip.
MAKE A NOTE OF HOW DEEP THIS HOLE IS.
At the top end we will have to drill a new hole just under the pommel cap, so this hole is covered by said cap. This is tricky but doable. Be careful not to touch the cap. Press the drill bit down into the channel so it gets deeper were it goes under the cap and than drill the hole. You do not have to drill deep. Just so that you can stick the wire in for 1 cm max and super glue it in place. The new wire will cover the slightly deeper channel and if done well things will look natural. To top it off you could put a drop of black paint in there, preferably mat or satin if you must.
Be sure you clean the wire and blow some fine dust on the wet paint to make the spot look old.
Step 4.
So. We have tooth picks, the holes are drilled and we got the wire. Lets go!
Start at the top. Put the wire in the new hole. Break most of the point of a tooth pick, get some super glue on it and carefully push it in. Maybe do a dry run first so you know the pick will go in before you do the super glue bit. If everything works let it rest for a bit. Go do the dishes.
After the setting of the glue we will have to get one end under the pommel cap.
To make this easier you will have to push the working end into a channel as close to the cap as possible. This way the end will form itself round a bit and so will slide more easy under the cap. I hope I made this clear. It needs some fiddling to get to the other side, but once the wire is gone all the way to the other side pull it gently through. Do not force it and do not pull it tight just yet. First you will have to do the other turns under the cap. Once you are free of the cap you can start pulling the wire as tight as you can and then work your way down the grip to the hole at the bottom. In step 3 you have marked how deep the hole is, so now cut the wire at the desired length, insert it in the hole, break off the point of a toothpick, get some glue in there and shove the new peg home. Done.
You will find that you need three hands for this last bit because you will have to keep the wire tight on the grip, besides doing all the other stuff. Maybe a dry run is called for here too.
I think this explanation will cover most of the work. If I forgot something or something is not clear, do not hesitate to say so.
One other thing:
If you want to give the wire an old like look, just clean it with some acetone and with a Q tip put some ammonia on it. Keep this up for some time, just keeping the new wire wet a bit, let it dry again, etc and in a couple of days it will turn dark.
When it is dark you'll have to wipe the top of the wire with a soft cloth, The deeper
parts will keep the patina. More realistic is to do the wiping with a gloved hand so the patina will stay on in the places you will not have touched.
Antique as can be.
Cheers.
)
